Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

45 reviews

astrohime's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Gets straight at it which I like, and a good page turner. Good plot and twists and turns along the way, some more predictable than others.  The end didn’t blow me away, but all in all a really well written book that kept my attention 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

mayra96's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ok so here’s my beef. 

The whole book, since the beginning, I knew Marco was in on it. There was no doubt about that. That fact itself threw me off because I was like “why would it be so obvious that he was involved and why just plainly say it halfway through the book?”  Then we learn what we learn about Richard and it got me. 

The whole story itself is very entrapping and the ending, chef’s kiss. Cynthia deserved that. 

My only wish is that we had a little more from the detective’s POV at how he ACTUALLY got to his conclusions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Violence, Mental illness, and Abandonment

sare1125's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Infidelity

simplyinthemoment's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Lots of twists and turns. Just when I thought I knew who the mastermind was behind the “kidnapping” the reader was led in a different direction. It was a dark & sinister storyline but written in a way where the reader wants to know the outcome. One part of the storyline could have been eliminated and it still would have been a successful & suspenseful book.  Which leads to the second point, the ending was less than satisfactory. If the before mentioned wasn’t included then the ending would not have been necessary leading to a better conclusion to the story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Gaslighting

bqhelton's review

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

mynameisrebecca's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book is littered in tropes, and the characters are pretty one dimensional. It leans a lot on making women seem crazy and villanizing mental illness. All for a plot arc that isn't very twisty or thrilling in the end. It's very dialogue heavy so it reads fast, at least.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexism, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Infidelity

cnannery19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

erickadishion's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

karmaj's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Took a bit of time to get into the story and characters but once the layers started to peel back I couldn’t stop til I got to the end. 

The storytelling throughout was well done and the twists and turns along the plot kept me guessing, though I felt a bit of the authors scramble to wrap up some plot points that she raised along the way.

Overall a solid thriller that was worth the read.

I could have done without the last chapter altogether and felt *that* specific detail wasn’t needed in the scheme of everything else

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Mental illness

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thought this was a good read. I predicted a bit of the plot, but not the whole thing, and I was interested in how everything was going to unfold. But boy howdy, men ruin everything. I'll be paying attention to more books from Ms. Lapena.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Murder, Classism, Infidelity, and Death

Minor: Child death, Sexual content, and Alcohol